Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred inundates south-east Queensland farms

Over the weekend south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales prepared for Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which made landfall as a tropical low on Saturday morning.

Not since Tropical Cyclones Wanda and Zoe in 1974 had Brisbane so seriously faced the prospect of a Tropical Cyclone. Thanks to Alfred’s relatively slow movement, the city had time to prepare, with more than 470,000 sandbags collected in the Brisbane City local government area—almost three times as many as were collected before the significant 2022 flood event.

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred’s strong winds and heavy rainfall left more than 330,000 homes across Queensland and New South Wales without power and has caused numerous instances of flash flooding across both states.

In some cases, rainfall records stretching back decades have been broken, including Nambour which received over 300mm, its heaviest March rain since 1893.

The impacts of the event on agriculture are yet to be fully determined but there are concerns for the southeast Queensland cane industry with whole paddocks inundated. There are also concerns for farm productivity throughout the region with road closures limiting staff and vehicle access to farms.

Farmers who have been impacted by the event are encouraged to report impacts using the Queensland DPI Agriculture Disaster Impact Survey.

Throughout this event there has been a strong degree of collaboration and engagement between all levels of government. As the agriculture sector begins the recovery process, it is essential that state, federal and local governments continue to act swiftly to ensure the fastest possible recovery.

Earlier this year the agriculture sector welcomed the State and Federal Governments’ joint decision to allow disaster recovery grants to cover replanting costs following the Far North Queensland flooding event. However, while this was a positive step forward, it’s simply not enough.

As disaster recovery continues to challenge farmers there is a need for greater government support to help farmers re-establish after these events, and policy changes to support farmers and communities to manage risk.

QFF and our members, Canegrowers, Cotton Australia and Queensland Fruit & Vegetable growers have been advocating, for many years, for a review of the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) and Queensland Drought Assistance measures to improve the effectiveness of how we prepare for and respond to natural disasters and extreme weather events.

GST and stamp duty currently add around 20% to the premium cost for farm insurance products in Queensland and is just one area that policymakers could review and reform.

QFF and our members will continue to monitor the impacts of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred on Queensland’s primary producers and work with government to support on-farm recovery efforts to help farmers get back to business as usual as fast as possible.